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Report -Lauderdale Tower - Barbican Estate - London - December 2011

big in japan

Down in London for a quick trip I met up with analepsis in Barbican with the aim of doing something local, and what better candidate than the Barbican tunnels and towers.. I had already done the Shakesphere tower with AndrewB, Gone, Millhouse and Rookie a few weeks previous, and was well up for getting a second Barbican tower off the list.

Completed in 1974 and named after the Earls of Lauderdale, Lauderdale Tower was the second of the three towers to be constructed on the Barbican Estate. It was listed in 2001 and was joint third tallest residential building in the UK with its neighbouring Shakesphere and Cromwell towers until the Pan Peninsula was constructed at the docklands in 2009. An interesting feature of the building is that the balconies on the tower slant outwards from top to bottom to reduce the feeling of vertigo for the residents using them..

We delved into the tunnels underneath the Barbican and proceeded to get lost, going via a few interesting bits and bobs including an old retro switch room.

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Its been said many a time before but its an absolute maze down there, and if you don't know where you're going (or you get too enthusiastic with your 'hmmm what's up there's) you can end up anywhere,
(like the fountain/lake thing in the middle of the Barbican estate for instanceâ€¦)

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We eventually found the entrance up to the tower and ascended, making it nicely on to the roof without too much of a struggle. Since we had been up there, I had been keeping an eye on a police helicopter doing some kind of crimefighty type mission further down in the city. We started snapping away, and by the time I had got all my stuff out and set up, said chopper had finished whatever he was doing and began making his way home. Only problem was, we were directly in his return path and must have stood out like a pair of sore thumbs on his IR camera. After the seventh or eighth lap of the tower, we figured he was probably for us, and made a ridiculous escape out of the towerâ€¦ Because of this, I only got a couple of decent shots from the top, which is a shame..